To previous poster: I can't explain it. I think it might just be a bunch of bull. Tool is my favorite band and I have gotten used to the fact that they have a very dry sense of humor. Their music is the only thing about them that I ever take seriously.

I love Danny Carey's playing. I have recently started to learn Tool songs on my own and they are some of the most enjoyable songs to play ever! There are a lot of intricacies that I never noticed until actually playing the songs. So far I have learned Parabola, Prison Sex, Sweat, the polyrhythm in Eulogy, the chorus beat and polyrhythm of Lateralus, and the solo of 46 and 2. I need to get back to learning full songs rather than just pieces, though.

Understand that the guys in Tool are deep -seekers if you will. Tool fans get stereotyped for raving about this stuff, but many of their songs are built on fundamental patterns that resemble ancient attempts at unlocking the secrets of the universe more than modern rock and roll.

So read as deep into as you want, and as far as I know Tool profess no secret knowledge that they wish to impart, other there's more to life than meets the eye so think for yourself.

But yeah, there's a lot of weird stuff going on with that band, dig it.

Danny Carey I believe is a very talented drummer. He shows mastery of drumming in odd time sigs and the use of his other musical backgrounds into his kit drumming. Now saying this even though I believe he's a very talented drummer, he doesn't necessarily impress me.

As stated before what I find interesting from his drumming is as others stated, how he sets up his drum set in the formation geoocult formations and patterns. And how he his drumming style is played in a means to reach harmony with universe (or however he actually states it).

What I'm trying to say is that I do believe he is a very talented drummer, but I believe Tool as a whole is more of a band based on showman ship than musical prowess.

everyone spews that whole "oh his kit is set up to this masonic temple's dimensions" or whatever, but does anyone understand what that actually means? i think it's hilarious that tool's whole thing is "think for yourself", and that's the last thing that most of their fans do. they lie to their fans so much and they just eat it up. genius on their part, but it's pretty sad for everyone else. it's kind of weird that old masonic temple have the exact dimensions needed to set up an regular drumset. there's nothing different about the way he sets his drumset up than anyone else. has anyone ever noticed that? the most ridiculous thing though is when they said that they filled the entire studio with helium to make the drums cut through better. i guess setting up your drumset to old masonic temple dimensions brings out the old masonic black magical powers of being able to not die from inhaling too much helium too. you know how they make the drums cut through better? two letters: E Q

the band started as a joke, and they continued that purpose in their own way for all these years, i wish i could make people believe things they way they can.

First off, I agree wholeheartedly with the consensus here that Danny Carey really has it all: groove, feel, chops, power, independence, etc, and clearly deserves his success. However I must disagree with the trend in analysis of 10000 Days. I listen to this album more than any of their others, and Tool is by far my favorite band. At first, I was honestly NOT impressed at all with this album, but like any creative and challenging work, YOU have to put work into it as well to reap the hidden rewards. I had to listen to some of the songs a ridiculous amount of times to really get the feeling they were trying to convey - and that is what tool is all about. If you are just looking for a metal song, of course it will be boring, or weird, because they don't play metal music! Their art exists in a liminal zone independent of superficial genre classification because it is not just about the sound, but the feel generated by their emotional states and a scientific understanding of cymatic metaphysics, manifest acoustically as music.

I totally understand the sentiment though about not liking some tool material, even as a huge fan. I'm still not too keen on a lot of Undertow, although I am finally breaking into it to some extent, but a lot of it just still doesn't do it for me. However I credit that to a lack of effort on my part to really deeply get into the music, not any fault of the band. That is something peculiar about Tool, that a lot of their music is a hard nut to crack, but if you can do it, and change your mind into a receiver for what's really going on in their music, especially the drums, it's amazing.

100% with you man, Tool's music is very very personal, as MJK has said he regretted writing songs like "Prison Sex" and "Wings", especially "Wings/10000 days" because it's a extremely hard song to perform and a tragic if it falls apart, again, very personal.
I think no matter what kind of music they come up with next time, I will always respect them as artists and seeing them live is a complete privilege.

Yeah, Ticks and Leeches is pretty tough, but I think that Rosetta Stoned takes the cake. The time signature switches are something like 8/8, 5/4, 8/8, 5/4, 8/8, 10/4, 9/8, 6/8, 11/4, 12/8, 15/8, 12/8, 5/4, 3/8, 6/8, 3/8, 5/4. I would love to see a transcription of this song. And to the guy who isn't impressed by Danny's stuff: Drummers like Keith Moon may be more flashy than Carey, but the stuff that Danny is playing is actually a lot more complicated. Yes, Neil Peart plays some complicated stuff too, but even his playing is a bit more simple than Carey's.

I think Danny Carey is a very talented and innovative drummer, and I think those things really came together on Lateralus and 10,000 Days. For me, his contributions to "progressive rock" are similar to Bill Bruford's (Yes, King Crimson) and Phil Collins' (Peter Gabriel Era Genesis) contributions. I also think Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) is creating some very interesting "progressive rock" drumming.

I love this guys drumming style, it's a shame that Tool broke up for Puscyfer, Danny Carey was an inspirational drummer.

They didn't break up. Maynard's was doing one of his many side projects. All of the members of Tool have side projects. I believe they're "working on" new stuff at the moment (when Keenan's not preoccupied being a damn wine connoisseur) . However I'm not entirely sure what "working on" might mean.

There's a little jazz joint in Studio City called The Baked Potato.; VOLTO! played there last night and I stood 10 feet from the kit on the right side of the stage. It was so awesome! They requested no photography, otherwise I'd have posted pics.

The lead singer plays keys and drums so some of the songs had two kits going. The band is so tight and technically proficient. Not a single wasted note the whole set.

january in los angeles means that once again it's time for the NAMM convention! music is everyhwere, and it's the perfect time to get the party started @ the historic baked potato...are we're gonna fire it up!
we'll also have the brand new t-shirts available too(fly the VOLTO! flag down on the convention floor)!
cheers and good times to y'all!

They didn't break up. Maynard's was doing one of his many side projects. All of the members of Tool have side projects. I believe they're "working on" new stuff at the moment (when Keenan's not preoccupied being a damn wine connoisseur) . However I'm not entirely sure what "working on" might mean.

Tool is working on new stuff they said they should be releasing sometime in 2010 I'm guessing they will give us a demo by June for sure and the actual album in November or so.

I think I might own one of Danny Carey's old drum sets.
It's a 70's Pearl clear acrylic 5-piece set. I picked it up used from a guy, and went to Explorer's Percussion here in KC to buy heads for it. Strangely enough, the guy I bought it from was there installing a security system. Wes, the owner of Explorer's, said he thought I had one of Danny's kits...
Anyways, it's probably not true, but it would be cool to actually verify. It's a nice kit and I'm playing it right now, and won't be interested in selling it for a while. Diameters are 13" and 14" mounted toms on a 20" bass drum, 16" floor tom, with a matching acrylic 5x14" snare.

Tool is working on new stuff they said they should be releasing sometime in 2010 I'm guessing they will give us a demo by June for sure and the actual album in November or so.

Indeed...went to the explorer percussion drum clinic last year that danny carey did with aloke and bozzio. When getting his autograph I asked him the time old question of "when is the next Tool album?" which he laughed and said "we are going to start writing and recording at the beginning of the year." Can't wait to see what they come up with...every album has just been so unique and kick@$$ in it's own way.

im hoping this is the right area to post this, but here we go anyway. i am currently writing a musicology essay for my degree, and am currently analyzing Lateralus by Tool. anyway it is far more complex than i imagined (stupid of me to imagine it wouldnt be i know), one of the key factors i am discussing is the use of the Fibonacci Sequence in different areas of the song.

When looking at the lyrics in the verses, the amount of syllables in each section corresponds to the sequence. In the first verse the syllables are as follows, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 5, 3, 13, 8, 5, 3. The missing numbers are immediately apparent, however these are redeemed in the second verse, where the syllables read, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 8, 5, 3, which completes the sequence.

At this point i would like to appolgyse to anyone who is confused, it weird stuff. Anyway i have heard rumors that Danny Carey used the Fibonacci Spiral concept in order to form his drum lines for this song, however i have no idea how or where, or even if it is true haha. i was just wondering if anyone on this forum had any idea, or maybe knew if there was notation for the track knocking round anywhere.

im hoping this is the right area to post this, but here we go anyway. i am currently writing a musicology essay for my degree, and am currently analyzing Lateralus by Tool. anyway it is far more complex than i imagined (stupid of me to imagine it wouldnt be i know), one of the key factors i am discussing is the use of the Fibonacci Sequence in different areas of the song.

When looking at the lyrics in the verses, the amount of syllables in each section corresponds to the sequence. In the first verse the syllables are as follows, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 5, 3, 13, 8, 5, 3. The missing numbers are immediately apparent, however these are redeemed in the second verse, where the syllables read, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 8, 5, 3, which completes the sequence.

At this point i would like to appolgyse to anyone who is confused, it weird stuff. Anyway i have heard rumors that Danny Carey used the Fibonacci Spiral concept in order to form his drum lines for this song, however i have no idea how or where, or even if it is true haha. i was just wondering if anyone on this forum had any idea, or maybe knew if there was notation for the track knocking round anywhere.

nevermind, this just says that the drum part repeats the sequence through 13. it doesn't say HOW.

cheers mate, im just gonna touch on it in the essay ive decided, ive got more than enough info on other aspects of the song, just as a drummer i prefer to focus on the drumming side of things :P, thanks a lot though that link will help me with other parts

I saw them play in Vancouver on Friday. He's using two roto-toms for his rack toms (as you can see in that photo), which he's been doing for a little while now. For bass drums, he's using those Paiste ones and for floors, it looks like he's usingg a regular wood floor tom (perhaps from his 10000 Days kit) for his first floor and then an acrylic gong bass drum for his second floor tom.

Search for videos from this tour on YouTube and you'll be able to get a better look. There are some pretty good HD ones that other people have uploaded (check VancouverJu ly 9).

I saw them in St. Charles, MO and he was definitely using roto-toms. He did, however have 2 normal floor toms. I thought they were the Paiste ones but the previous post makes me wonder. The kit sounded great, though. And though I don't even have to say it, Danny played fabulously and IMO, better than ever.

I saw them in St. Charles, MO and he was definitely using roto-toms. He did, however have 2 normal floor toms. I thought they were the Paiste ones but the previous post makes me wonder. The kit sounded great, though. And though I don't even have to say it, Danny played fabulously and IMO, better than ever.

Oh, definitely; Danny's playing and sound was absolutely phenomenal! Here's a short video someone took of the Vancouver gig that you can sort of see what he's using. The first few seconds are dark for whatever reason. He's also uploaded a bunch of other good videos from this show, if you're interested.

Sorry to change the subject, but I would like to hear from others who have seen Tool this tour. Wovenhand was the band that opened when I saw them. They were a very unique band and their drummer was solid. When Tool played Lateralus, Danny and Wovenhand's drummer did a drum duet just as expected. Wovenhand's drummer didn't have a clue what to do though! Danny was playing such complex rhythms that it might as well have been free time, so I don't blame him. When Mastodon and Big Business opened for them, both of those drummers held their own with Danny. My question is, has anyone seen Tool with Rajas or Dalek this tour? I just want to know how those drummers held up in the Lateralus solo/duet.